Folding collapsible treadmill

ABSTRACT

A folding collapsible treadmill is disclosed to include a base, two standing posts fastened pivotally with the base, an instrument panel fastened pivotally with the standing posts, screw bolts adapted to lock the instrument panel and the standing posts in the operative position respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] (a) Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a treadmill and, moreparticularly, to a folding collapsible treadmill that can be folded upto reduce its space occupation when not in use.

[0003] (b) Description of the Prior Art

[0004] A regular treadmill comprises a base on which the user treads,two standing posts bilaterally located on the front end of the base, aninstrument panel fixedly fastened to the standing posts at the top forindicating distance, time, and other designated functions, and twohandrails fixedly connected between the standing posts and the frame ofthe base at two sides. The instrument panel has a handlebar for holdingby the user treading upon the base. The standing posts can be unlockedand turned to a collapsed position to reduce the storage space of thetreadmill. However, because the instrument panel is fixedly fastened tothe standing posts and disposed in a sloping direction for easy viewingby the user, the instrument panel cannot be closely attached to thestanding posts or the base when the standing posts set in the collapsedposition. Therefore, this design of treadmill still occupies muchstorage space when collapsed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention has been accomplished under thecircumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention toprovide a folding collapsible treadmill, which can be folded up andreceived in a collapsed position to reduce its space occupation when notin use. According to one aspect of the present invention, the foldingcollapsible treadmill comprises a base, two standing posts fastenedpivotally with the base, an instrument panel fastened pivotally with thestanding posts, and screw bolts adapted to lock the instrument panel andthe standing posts in the operative position respectively. According toanother aspect of the present invention, two detachable handrails arebilaterally coupled between the base and the standing posts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a folding collapsible treadmillaccording to the present invention.

[0007]FIG. 2 is another elevational view of the present invention afterremoval of the cover shell from the base.

[0008]FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view in an enlarged scale of apart of the base and the standing posts according to the presentinvention.

[0009]FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the standing postsfastened to the base according to the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing the standing postsfastened to the base according to the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded view of a part of the instrumentpanel and the standing posts according to the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 7 is a side view of the present invention.

[0013]FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 but showing the handrails removed.

[0014]FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing showing the connection between thebottom plate of the instrument panel and the standing posts according tothe present invention.

[0015]FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing showing the folding action of thefolding collapsible treadmill according to the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 11 shows the folding collapsible treadmill collapsedaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Referring to FIG. 1, a folding collapsible treadmill inaccordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a base 1upon which the user treads, two standing posts 2, a first transversemounting bar 21, a second transverse mounting bar 25, two handrails 3,and an instrument panel 4.

[0018] The base 1 comprises a treading belt 11, a transmission mechanism12 located on one end, namely, the front end (see FIG. 2), a transverselocating frame 13 transversely provided at the front end and sloping inone direction, and two upright supports 14 disposed near the two distalends of the transverse locating frame 13 (see FIG. 3). The transverselocating frame 13 has two mounting holes 131 respectively disposed nearthe two distal ends, and two screw holes 132 corresponding to themounting holes 131. The upright supports 14 each have a mounting hole141.

[0019] The standing posts 2 are respectively inserted into the mountingholes 131 of the transverse locating frame 13, each having a transversemounting hole 22 near the bottom. Screw bolts 23 are respectivelyinserted through the transverse mounting holes 22 of the standing posts2 and threaded into the screw holes 132 of the transverse locating frame13 to fixedly secure the standing posts 2 to the transverse locatingframe 13 of the base 1. The first transverse mounting bar 21 is fixedlyfastened to the standing posts 2 at a lower side, having two end holes211 axially aligned in the two distal ends and respectively fastened tothe mounting holes 141 of the upright supports 14 by a respective screw24 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The second transverse mounting base 25 isfixedly fastened to the standing posts 2 at an upper side (see FIG. 6).The standing posts 2 each have a top mounting flange 26, which has ahorizontal mounting hole 261 and a vertical mounting hole 262 for themounting of the instrument panel 4.

[0020] The handrails 3 are bilaterally detachably coupled between thestanding posts 2 and the base 1 (see FIG. 7). Preferably, each handrail3 is formed of multiple detachable parts. If desired, the handrails 3can be detached from the treadmill (see FIG. 8).

[0021] The instrument panel 4 is adapted to indicate distance, time, andother designated functions, having a handlebar 41 for holding by theuser treading on the treading belt 11 of the base 1. The bottom plate 42of the instrument panel 4 has horizontal mounting holes 421 and verticalmounting holes 422 respectively fastened to the horizontal mountingholes 261 and vertical mounting holes 262 of the top mounting flanges 26of the standing posts 2 by screw bolts 43 and 44, two openings 45, whichreceive the top ends of the standing posts 2 (see FIGS. 6 and 9).Further, the horizontal mounting holes 421 are respectively formed in arespective lug 451 at one side of the corresponding opening 45 (see FIG.6).

[0022] When not in use, the handrails 3 are detached from the treadmill(see FIG. 8), and then the screw bolts 44 are removed from the topmounting flanges 26 of the standing posts 2 and the bottom plate 42 ofthe instrument panel 4, and then the instrument panel 4 is turned aboutthe screw bolts 43 through 90° and closely attached to the standingposts 2 (see FIG. 10), and then the screw bolts 43 are removed from themounting flanges 26 of the standing posts 2 and the bottom plate 42 ofthe instrument panel 4, and then the standing posts 2 are respectivelyturned about the screw bolts 24 through 90° and closely attached to thebase 1 (see FIG. 11). When collapsed, the treadmill requires lessstorage space. Further, screw bolts A, bushes B, and washers C are usedwith the screw bolts 23, 24, 43, and 44 for installation. A cover shell15 is fastened to the base 1 to protect the transmission mechanism 12,and to keep the transmission mechanism 12 from sight. The cover shell 15has two recessed portions 151, which receive the standing posts 2 in thecollapsed position (see FIG. 11).

[0023] A prototype of folding collapsible treadmill has been constructedwith the features of FIGS. 1˜11. The folding collapsible treadmillfunctions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

[0024] Although a particular embodiment of the invention has beendescribed in detail for purposes of illustration, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited exceptas by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A folding collapsible treadmill comprising abase, two standing posts bilaterally located on one end of said base,and an instrument panel mounted on said standing ports, wherein saidstanding posts each have a top mounting flange, said top mounting flangehaving a horizontal mounting hole and a vertical mounting hole; saidinstrument panel comprises a bottom plate, said bottom plate comprisingtwo horizontal mounting holes corresponding to the horizontal mountingholes of the top mounting flanges of said standing posts, and twovertical mounting holes corresponding to the vertical mounting holes ofthe top mounting flanges of said standing posts; two first screw boltsare respectively mounted in the horizontal mounting holes the topmounting flanges of said standing posts and the horizontal mountingholes of the bottom plate of said instrument panel for enabling saidinstrument panel to be turned about said first screw bolts between anoperative position and a collapsed position; two second screw bolts arerespectively mounted in the vertical mounting holes of the top mountingflanges of said standing posts and the vertical mounting holes of saidinstrument panel to fixedly secure said instrument panel to saidstanding posts.
 2. The folding collapsible treadmill as claimed in claim1 wherein the bottom plate of said instrument panel comprises at leastone opening for receiving a top end of each of said standing post, andtwo lugs in which the horizontal mounting holes of said instrument panelare respectively formed.
 3. The folding collapsible treadmill as claimedin claim 1 wherein said first screw bolts and said second screw boltsare respectively fastened with a respective screw nut, a respectivebush, and a respective washer.
 4. The folding collapsible treadmill asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said instrument panel has a handlebar.
 5. Afolding collapsible treadmill comprising a base, two standing postsbilaterally located on one end of said base, two handrails bilaterallycoupled between said standing posts and said base, and an instrumentpanel mounted on said standing ports, wherein: said base comprises atransverse locating frame transversely provided at one end thereof, andtwo upright supports respectively disposed near two distal ends of saidtransverse locating frame, said transverse locating frame having twomounting holes respectively disposed near two distal ends thereof andtwo screw holes corresponding to the mounting holes of said transverselocating frame, said upright supports each having a mounting hole; saidstanding posts are respectively inserted into the mounting holes of saidtransverse locating frame of said base, said standing posts each havinghave a top mounting flange, said top mounting flange having a horizontalmounting hole and a vertical mounting hole, a transverse mounting holenear a bottom end thereof; a transverse mounting bar is fixedly fastenedto said standing posts near said base, said transverse mounting barhaving two end holes axially aligned in two distal ends thereof; twofirst screw bolts are respectively inserted through the transversemounting holes of said standing posts and threaded into the screw holesof said transverse locating frame to fixedly secure said standing poststo said transverse locating frame of said base; two second screw boltsare respectively mounted in the mounting holes of said upright supportsand the end holes of said transverse mounting bar to pivotally fastensaid standing posts to said upright supports for enabling said standingposts to be turned about said second screw bolts between a verticaloperative position and a horizontal non-operative position after removalof said first screw bolts from said standing posts and said transverselocating frame; said instrument panel comprises a bottom plate, saidbottom plate comprising two horizontal mounting holes corresponding tothe horizontal mounting holes of the top mounting flanges of saidstanding posts, and two vertical mounting holes corresponding to thevertical mounting holes of the top mounting flanges of said standingposts; two third screw bolts are respectively mounted in the horizontalmounting holes the top mounting flanges of said standing posts and thehorizontal mounting holes of the bottom plate of said instrument panelfor enabling said instrument panel to be turned about said third screwbolts between an operative position and a collapsed position; two fourthscrew bolts are respectively mounted in the vertical mounting holes ofthe top mounting flanges of said standing posts and the verticalmounting holes of said instrument panel to fixedly secure saidinstrument panel to said standing posts.
 6. The folding collapsibletreadmill as claimed in claim 5 wherein said transverse locating frameslopes in one direction.
 7. The folding collapsible treadmill as claimedin claim 5 wherein said handrails are formed of multiple detachableparts.
 8. The folding collapsible treadmill as claimed in claim 5wherein said base comprises a transmission mechanism located on one endthereof, and a cover shell covering said transmission mechanism, saidcover shell having two recessed portions adapted to receive saidstanding posts when said standing posts turned to said horizontalnon-operative position.